STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Brig Gen (retd) Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, a victim of enforced disappearance, yesterday testified before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 as the third prosecution witness in a case over enforced disappearance and illegal confinement of 24 victims at the Joint Interrogation Cell (JIC), operated by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) during the Awami League regime.

In the testimony, Azmi said he was held in a pitch-dark cell without natural light or air, completely cut off from the outside world for 2,908 days, and was subjected to relentless physical and mental suffering, denied proper food and medical care, and forced to endure constant, jarring mechanical noise that caused headaches and reduced his hearing capacity considerably.

The noise was deliberately used to block outside sounds and ensure that screams during interrogations could not be heard beyond the facility, he added.

Azmi is the son of late Ghulam Azam, former Jamaat-e-Islami chief who was convicted for war

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